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Hockey players off ice drills
Let's try out this subgroup!
I live in the Midwest, but I'm ~1hr from most rinks. I need to get better at all things hockey, but would love to not have to drive an hour each way and pay ~$20/hr for ice time.
What can I do to improve at home? I've heard of golf balls for handling and passing, but do you have any specific drills that you do? I convinced my wife to get a stick and practice passing with me which has helped A LOT. What do you folks do to practice shooting? What about off ice skating drills?
Videos, diagrams, and specifics would be very helpful.
The golf ball is great for practicing stick handling. Get some cones or similar obstacles and lookup some drills on YouTube. If you’re not already, make sure to wear gloves while practicing. You should start to notice the base of the palm on the upper hand’s glove wearing down more than the rest. This means you’re holding the stick properly.
For shooting I used a piece of plywood with a goal shape taped on. A street hockey puck works well enough in my opinion.
Leg strength and balancing exercises will benefit you for skating. Whole leg is important, but most power comes from the thighs. Ankle strength will help with turning, cross overs, and managing your edges. An exercise I always have called skaters (and variants) is a good one.
Any backstop around the plywood, or are you just that good? I've got breakable windows and water pipes in my basement walls...
I would do shooting practice outside so it didn’t require much of a backstop. A taught net might do the job though.
During the calamity, when all the rinks closed, I got a pair of Marsblade so I could do hockey stuff in a nearby basketball court. I wouldn't say it's the same as the real thing, but with a good court surface and a green biscuit, it was 75%-80% there and I get a good workout from it.
Interesting. Good workout is definitely a nice addition!
Speaking of green biscuit on a court surface, I chewed up my blade pretty good within the first week using it on my basement floor. I recently learned about a thing called a "blade wrap" and bought one online on the well known online shopping company. For some reason, it doesn't fit my stick well. That being said, it holds up well to the wear and protects my blade! Do you use a wrap or something else?
I actually have a spare wooden hockey stick that I use specifically off ice. I apply hockey tape pretty frequently because it does get chewed up pretty easily, but I don't mind since it's just a wooden stick.
I've only got a wooden stick right now, dice I'm just starting out. I figure learn the game and get good at skating, then I can justify buying a more expensive stick. Then I'll probably still have the wooden one that I can chew up.
Not sure if you have great arm strength, but when I first started out and played a full game of hockey with a wooden stick, my arms were wasted within a period. Weight difference between wooden and composite is pretty big.
Interesting, I haven't noticed an issue with that. Either I have better arm strength than I would think, or I've been noticing the fatigue and just thought it was normal for the game.
A few guys I know ended up grabbing a SuperDeker
It's expensive but they've said it's been pretty good for stick handling work indoors, especially if you don't have a lot of space. Might be able to find them used or on discount.
I've looked into that as well. It really seemed something that would benefit my stick work, but I saw people call it gimmicky and overly expensive. Maybe I can find one on a marketplace for cheaper.
I don't do much with a stick and puck off-ice, but this is my go-to exercise to get myself in game shape. If I'm working through this twice a week I'm flying on the ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBurKQX7h4Q
I play a mix of skater and goalie and I follow as many Maria Mountain stretching videos as I can. They can honestly be harder than the 20 minute hard bike ride but the older I get the more I need to take care of my groin and hips
I've been looking into HIIT a lot lately, and seems to be incredibly beneficial. I've been looking to add HIIT, so I'll add this to my workout schedule, thanks!
I have a next door neighbor with a tile set up in his backyard with a goal and some targets. We'll play horse on the targets maybe once a week. Otherwise a few of us in town bought inline skates and have been doing 2 on 2 at the local middle school ball courts. It's pretty fun.
I've done some looking into this. Would be great for handling and shooting practice. The price point certainly is a large barrier, though.